To See You Smile Again
by honorarylady
Summary: There is something wrong with Ellis and Nick doesn't know how to fix it. Set in Hard Rain.


It had been pitch black outside the safe house for hours now. It might be sometime around midnight, but it's not like the survivors keep track of time anymore. What's the point?

They had spent the first few hours of the evening tending to eachother's wounds and trying to scrub the mud and dried blood from their skin with the little water they had. There hadn't been any food in this safe house so they would have to go without. Again. Surprisingly though, the members of the team that would be most likely to complain about these unfortunate circumstances were keeping their mouths shut. The three oldest survivors had an unspoken agreement not to focus on the depressing details of their situation. They all knew why but they wouldn't say it. Not in front of Ellis anyway.

Nick had been the first to notice the kid's behavior changing. He was more in tune to how Ellis acted than the others, he didn't know why. The happy-go-lucky, blindingly-bright smile that the hick always wore had begun to wash away when the rain started to fall down over them. The zombie's were more difficult to push away, being covered in slippery mud, and Ellis had fallen down a few times. Nick, Rochelle, or Coach had been there to pick him back up every time, giving him a reassuring pat on the back or a smile. But Nick would be the one to hold on to the hick's arm a second longer, looking at him with his eyebrow's pinched together, silently asking if he was okay. But Ellis would shrug out of the hand gripping his shoulder and keep walking, not meeting the gambler's stare. Nick would then glare at his back, willing him to just turn around and smile at him, to tell some idotic story. Anything to show that he was okay.

Th usually uncaring man had a soft spot for the younger boy. Ellis was the only bright thing in the dark world that surrounded them. Nick never had someone like that in his entire life. Now that Ellis was around everything seemed a little better, not so dreary. But now his light was fading and Nick needed to fix it.

That's what he was thinking while he watched Rochelle tenderly wrap bandages around the kid's stomach. Ellis always ended up having to take off his shirt once they got in a safe room. The first few times it wasn't even due to injury, he just didn't want to wear a shirt "because it was too hot". Nick wasn't complaining though, even if it was a little teasing. Ellis had tanned, firm muscles, like a 23 year old should have. But now he had long gashes stretching across his abdomen. Nick winced every time Ellis did as Rochelle finished taping him up. Ellis looked at him for what felt like the first time all day and noticed the look of pain on Nick's face. The gambler wiped the look off of his face at once, but forced their eyes to meet. Ellis offered him a small smile that had Nick's heart clenching in his chest.

That wasn't Ellis' smile. That was some youth robbed, depressed, scared boy's smile. Not Ellis.

Eventually, after everyone was thoroughly exhausted and patched up, they made their way to different sleeping positions. Coach insisted that Rochelle sleep on the only mattress in the other room, and he laid down on the carpeted floor beside her, snoring immediately.

Nick and Ellis were left alone in the main room, straing at eachother awkwardly. Nick had a thousand things he wanted to say, but the only thing that left his mouth was, "You sleep on the couch."

Ellis nodded his head once and removed his hat and shoes before gingerly, as to not disturb his bandage covered injuries, laying down on the couch. Nick grabbed a blanket and threw it over the boy's still body. Then he layed down on the floor next to the hick and stared up at the ceiling.

They both laid there for a while, listening to the storm outside. Occasionally they would hear a clap of thunder so loud that it would drown out the sound of zombies groaning right outside. The rest of the time all they would hear was rain slamming against the walls and angry shrieks of the undead.

Nick finally decided that he couldn't take it anymore and rolled onto his side to face Ellis.

What he saw were two bright blue eyes shining down on him.

"Ellis," he began, "What the hell is the matter with you today?" Okay, so that wasn't as gentle or romantic as he planned it in his head but screw you.

Ellis' only response was a slow shaking of his head back and forth as the kid buried himself deeper into the couch.

_You're breaking my heart ace,_ Nick thought. He didn't know what to do. Getting the kid to talk was never even necessary before today. You wanted to ask him something? Chances are he's already talking. Nick didn't know how to convince Ellis to just confess whatever the hell he wasn't saying.

So he did something that he's never done before. He sat up and kneeled next to Ellis' face, staring right into those baby-blue eyes. Then the gambler gently placed one hand on the hick's cheek and leaned his face down so he could tenderly press his lips onto Ellis's forehead.

They both squeezed their eyes shut and tried to ignore all the horrible sounds around them. They focused on the warmth of their body's, so close together, hearts beating fast. Nick pulled away after a surprisingly long time and laid back down on the floor. He closed his eyes and tried to drift off into sleep, but failed. After a few moments he heard some shuffling around on the couch and felt a warm body lay down next his after a minute. Ellis wrapped his arms around the older man and threw his face into the gambler's chest. Nick looked down and pressed his lips to the top of Ellis' head before wrapping his arms aound the boy protectively, squeezing their bodies so close they could feel eachother's hearts beating between them.

Eventually they both fell asleep in eachother's arms and Nick woke up to the biggest smile he had ever seen on the stupid hick's face.


End file.
